XAT 2018 Group Discussion & Personal Interview Preparation Tips

After releasement of XAT Result, GD/PI is the next level which you have to achieve to get selected in XAT affiliated institutes. Find here qualities & ethics need to perform better in GD/PI. Also, find tips regarding better performance in interview & latest GD topics. Importance of GD is the major question every student seeking to know.

Every aspiring student has questions regarding the importance of GD & its requirement in XAT Selection procedure. Your Leadership & Team skills are verified via GD procedure. The basic idea behind GD is to test.

• How you current & analyze information collected while you are working in a group.
• How you develop an optimum solution for the problem via various perspective. Make sure everyone should comply with it.
• If anyone has given some group task to accomplish & then they try to perform in group & due to this some of their individual traits have been revealed.

Group discussion is the way to identify all the positive & negative aspects of the certain topic. In short, it should not seems like a battlefield. It should be a healthy discussion which should tend towards a logical conclusion.

1. The number of attempts:

Always remember one thing that it is just a discussion, not a debate. For e.g. If total period If GD is 15 minutes then the total number of points may not exceed 35 out of 40. So you have to participate in discussion minimum 5 to 6 times to attain a better score.

2. Quality of content:

What kind of facts figures & relevant examples you are presenting in GD will be tested. You can do it better by reading good newspapers & magazines like The Hindu, Indian Express.

3. Be a good listener:

If you are a good listener then only, you will become a good speaker. Exercise in your peer group, try to listen, everyone, & then react. But do not stand like that you do not have anything to say. Summed up your thoughts while you are listening others, but it can be achieved by group exercise only.

4. Be a good speaker:

Try to address everyone in the group. Maintain eye contact while you are speaking. It will reflect your confidence level alternatively.

5. Interruption strategy:

Do not be rude to another person who is speaking. Try to use words like Excuse me, Let me clear to participate in the discussion.

6. Be a leader/Managerial:

If you have given the chance to initiate then give it a proper direction to perform good discussion. Sometimes we do not pay attention but it happens. Do not become a part of the small group in discussion. Only two or three people are discussing & others, not able to participate in the discussion. Try to discuss with everyone because panelists judge you on this scale also.

7. Power to memorize/remember:

Note every key point concerned to the discussion in your mind, obviously, you do not have any paper-pen to write. Analyze points of your teammates. Because it will be needed at the time of final conclusion.

Development of above-listed qualities is not a one-day goal you can achieve these qualities via constant exercise.

1. Listen cautiously the dos & don’ts eligible in GD before the discussion starts.
2. Whenever you get time in between try to summarize your thoughts to turn them into ideas.

Why students have failed in the Personal Interview

If you will be able to find the reasons for your failure then automatically you will perform well.

• Over & under confidence both have to deploy nature. Try to avoid this situation.
• Do not give any reason to take sympathy. Sometimes it will result in negative points.
• Do not write extraordinary things in an application form. Be precise whatever you are writing because you have to offer a definite response in support of your words.
• You do not know what are you seeking to do exactly MBA or something else? Be firm in your purpose.

1. Your communication, interindividual skills  & confidence are mainly checked at the time of interview
2. Do not mix up your goals & motivation at the time of interview.
3. Read standard magazines & newspapers regularly like India Today, The Hindu (their editorial page is very useful) & Indian Express.
4. Prepare basic interview questions because there are 90% chances that these questions may be asked:

• Elaborate your long-term goals & desires?
• What are your interests?
• Why MBA?
• Why this particular college?
• What are your strengths & weaknesses?
• Tell me about yourself?

Prepare two responses to above basic questions both short & long, so that you would be able to respond according to the situation.

5. Be prepared according to your application form whatever you have written in the form at the time of submission of application in particular institute.
6. Prepare clearly your qualifying subjects, work experience as most of the questions have been asked from this section.
7. Prepare everything with examples & lots of facts & figures.

• What to do if not able to response some of the questions:

It is clearly OK if you are not able to response some questions. We strictly advised you to not to give confusing responses because it will in straight affects your PI score so, better say sorry & proceed. You can say ‘I am sorry, I do not know the response’ & proceed.

Here are some basic tips which will help you to perform better in GD/PI.

• Discuss with your seniors:

As your seniors have gone via all the proceedings need for GD/PI. Discuss with them about the type of topics were asked in GD. What are the various views & reaction of students who have been participated in the discussion?

1. For example, A student named Bhavya, have secured admission in YWCA, Delhi with 99.62 percentile in XAT.

GD Topic: 360 degree

As the topic suggests itself ‘360’ there were so many ideas all around as the topic is so abstract. The student who has initiated the discussion was trying to hold back all the ideas together have secured maximum points. I could not keep speaking for the long period but try to put new ideas from various perspective.

The whole discussion lasted for 30 to 35 minutes with several good points but with no firm conclusion. I was the third one to be called for the interview. There were total three interviewers let us say P1, P2 & P3. It was a nice discussion given me three essay topics to write on some days prior to the interview.

2. Aman Narang, have secured admission in YWCA, Delhi with 99.92 percentile in XAT

GD Topic: Wealth disparity can be overcome by making the rich poor & poor rich

Every student who was in my team has current strong points to validate their thoughts. The whole discussion lasted for 25 minutes.

My interview session was organized for about 30 minutes. They were asking me about my school, books which I fond of & present affairs.

3. Sumit Kathuria, XAT Percentile: 95.40

GD Topic: Extra Curricular activities act as the distraction to students

Total 11 students were there for discussion but only 8 have participated. It lasted for about 15 minutes.

4. Mandeep Singh, XAT Percentile: 99.27

GD Topic: Union Budget 2015: Enumerate its pluses & minuses

The discussion was common, everyone had lots of time to put on their views. Our discussion tended to be repetitive & finally, the discussion had been stopped by panelists to draw a conclusion.

They have asked me about my year gap & my job profile that is cloud computing.

5. Rajeev Dheer, XAT Percentile: 96 called for Global MBA course

GD Topic: Who stated beggars cannot be choosers? Can beggars be choosers too?

GD Performance: 3/5

PI: They have asked me about Public & private job culture & my long terms goals.

PI Performance: 6/10

1. Should goods & services tax be made top priority fiscal reform
2. Globalization is good for workers & their rights
3. Trade unions help boost productivity

It was a quite various topic only 4 out of 10 students were able to speak at the time of discussion.

4. Globalization promotes economic group but wipes out cultures
5. Inflation or Corruption which is more important?
6. Required for vocational training in the education system
7. MOOC: Replacement of traditional teaching system
8. How do you explain Facebook to your Grandmom? Is it possible or not?
9. The age of information
10. Does India required a dictator

1. What is the at least score need to be the score to secured an honorable position in top XAT affiliated institute?

2. What are the various components which I should prepare to perform better in GD?

• Discover whether you are in favor or against to the given topic. Start thinking about positive or negative points with reference to that topic.
• Try to initiate the discussion, start with the introduction of the topic.
• After discussing positive & negative aspects conclude the discussion.
• Discuss problems occurred in finding a solution

3. Tell me about tricky questions asked in PI round in XAT? How should I response them?

• As your records say you seem like a bright student. MBA is the waste of time for you or not?
• As you stated you are good at academics, so why you did not go for Ph.D. or other higher degree?
• So you seeking to do MBA because you seeking to start your own venture? And if you seeking to do then you must aware of the fact that only 1 in 1000 companies started every year are able to survive in tough market competition.

Note: If panelist asks you any question then they are expecting only an accurate response from your side?

No, it is not the case most of the time. They are not looking for the accurate response all the time, all they are looking for is your confidence level in given situation.